I admit I am skeptical person, and a lot of people I know would say I’m hard-headed. While blogging about the book The Art of Possibility, I have questioned a lot of the tactics as they do not always align with my personal theories.
But I really liked the section on “enrollment”. That is something that I think can be helpful in any person’s life, including my own. While I’m not sure about the terminology and associating it with college or a yoga class, I fully support the idea of being excited about things, especially in the workplace. While people may not adopt or agree with your ideas, the concept of offering your excitement, to put it out there, is a wonderful idea.
As the book says, they may not always be receptive, but the possibility is there that they could be receptive. And at what cost to you? Very little. Maybe exposing some passion you have for you job? Big deal. That’s a good thing. And sincerity goes a long way. Maybe they won’t be receptive the first time, but upon seeing numerous, sincere attempts on your part, you could whittle away at any barriers.
In such a busy, stressful time for me, this was a nice closing section to reflect upon.
Sometimes, it all about putting it out there. It's hard to take a risk and walk out on that "limb" but sometimes it needs to happen. How many times did Edison fail when making the light bulb? 600? There's something to be said for taking a risk and perseverance through the tough times.
ReplyDeleteBryan, Thanks for joining us out on that limb! We need the company and I really need a few more folks helping me keep my head on straight and level. I think your self-proclaimed "hard-headedness" should come in handy, when the downward spiral talkers come a-knockin'.
ReplyDeleteBryan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you bringing excitement to the workplace is very important. We are not allows going to agree with what our boss wants us to do but it is important to stay excited about your job.
@Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI agree that enrollment was an interesting concept. I like how it is something for self interpretation. If it is truly the act of generating a spark of possibility then we as teachers, educators, trainers, and instructors are all responsible for generating that spark somewhere in our lives. I think the bigger picture that makes enrollment dynamic is to think about who and when someone generated our spark. I have to go back and see what that looks like, how it unfolds and its benefits in the long run.
I appreciate your skepticism and the need to "be real." I don't think that the book necessarily promotes "leaps of faith," as much wants to fight back the tendency to for us to take our tremendous powers of pattern recognition, memory and anticipation and always assume the worse. The fight is against the thought that "it's always been this way and will never change." Skepticism is a good thing, just don't get stuck in a rut.
ReplyDeleteMan Bryan I hear you trust me I began reading I had to read others post just to see if others thought this book was rather interesting. But it made me reflect back to the movie on the author he was a very interesting character. I definitely found myself looking deeper into it and rightfully so that was where the message was. Glad to see you found a way to look past the rather interesting parody and get something out of this book as well.
ReplyDelete